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Good day, you lovely ladies and gents.

Welcome to Barely Related, a conversational Friday column that presents the non-gaming news stories that we, the Joystiq staff, have been talking about over the past week. And no, we're not stopping our focus on industry and gaming news. Think of this as your casual weekly recap of interesting (and mostly geeky) news, presented just in time to fill your brain with things to discuss at all of those weekend shindigs.

Grab a fresh drink, lean back in your armchair, and get ready to talk nerdy with us.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>baman-pidermanbarely-relateddisneylanddoctor-whojj-abramsmatt-smithmotion-controlnodStar-Warsteenage-mutant-ninja-turtlesterminatorFri, 02 May 2014 21:00:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2013/09/13/j-j-abrams-dropped-involvement-with-star-trek-game/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/09/13/j-j-abrams-dropped-involvement-with-star-trek-game/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/09/13/j-j-abrams-dropped-involvement-with-star-trek-game/#comments
Though his team was involved at the project's outset, Star Trek film series director J.J. Abrams distanced himself from Digital Extremes' poorly received Star Trek: The Video Game prior to its completion, describing the finished product as a "big disappointment."

"The last game was obviously a big disappointment to me," Abrams told GamerHub in a recent interview. "We were actually involved at the very beginning of it, and then we realized that it was not going in a place where we were going to get what we wanted. So we dropped out and they continued to do it."

Abrams continued: "To me the video game could have been something that actually really benefited the series and was an exciting, fun game with great gameplay and instead it was not. For me, emotionally, it hurt, because we were working our asses off making the movie and then this game came out and it got [...] universally panned. I think that it was something that, without question, didn't help the movie and arguably hurt it."

"We're working with Valve right now on a couple of projects," Abrams told GamerHub. "The dream is to say, 'Despite its existence as a game or movie, what makes this great?' and starting from scratch -- from a place of, 'Let's make this from the ground-up great, regardless of what's come before.' [...] Anything that is based on something else needs to exist on its own terms. A lot of times, these things seem to exist as ancillary product. In which case, it will suck."

"We're going to try and figure out if we can make a Half-Life movie or a Portal movie together," said Gabe Newell.

The two sparred on storytelling methods in movies and film, and used scenes from each other's work to illustrate how player agency can augment storytelling, and how films can use "forced" foreshadowing to set up later events. According to the creative pair, they wanted to pursue this dialogue more seriously, and now hope to collaborate on a film based in some way on Half-Life or Portal.

There are no details available beyond this brief announcement, likely because the process is still in its early stages.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>dice-2013gabe-newellhalf-lifejj-abramsportalstar-trekWed, 06 Feb 2013 13:00:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2013/01/28/j-j-abrams-and-gabe-newell-to-duel-in-dice-2013-opening-keynote/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/01/28/j-j-abrams-and-gabe-newell-to-duel-in-dice-2013-opening-keynote/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/01/28/j-j-abrams-and-gabe-newell-to-duel-in-dice-2013-opening-keynote/#commentsJ.J. Abrams, prolific film director and dual-wielder of beloved franchises, will headline the opening keynote of the 2013 D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit alongside Valve co-founder Gabe Newell. The Star Wars/Star Trek director will bring his cinematic perspective and flair to a discussion entitled "Storytelling Across Platforms: Who Benefits Most, the Audience or the Player?" on February 6.

"J.J. thoughtfully weaves together suspense, action, emotion, and fun into every one of his projects - elements every game developer aspires to capture as well," said Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences President Martin Rae. "Each year, the D.I.C.E. Summit sets the tone for the year ahead in games and adding J.J. and Gabe's shared insights is a natural fit as we see all forms of entertainment converge."

The D.I.C.E. Summit will have a host of talks swirling around the impending entertainment singularity, and run from February 5 until February 8 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. The D.I.C.E. Awards, which seek to honor the best games released over the past year, will take place on February 7.

Do you remember that original teaser for Super 8, in which a train crashes and something lets itself out of a train car? This is like that, except interactive (thanks, Source Engine!), and it takes place from the point-of-view of someone inside the train. You can find it in that copy of Portal 2 you've undoubtedly already purchased or, if you're still stuck at work like we are, watch a video after the break.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>easter-egginteractive-trailerJJ-Abramsmacmicrosoftpcplaystationportal-2ps3SourceSuper-8ValvexboxTue, 19 Apr 2011 17:30:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2009/05/20/new-sims-3-trailer-treks-into-our-hearts/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/05/20/new-sims-3-trailer-treks-into-our-hearts/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/05/20/new-sims-3-trailer-treks-into-our-hearts/#commentsThe Sims 3 has quite a marketing push behind it for a game expected to sell more copies in its lifetime than there are digits in Pi. The upcoming sequel to the best-selling PC title is poised to attack store shelves on June 2 and honestly, we can't wait. In this video (showing off the game's movie-making magic), our Simlish-speaking pals show off their creativity in a hilarious Star Trek parody. If you thought J.J. Abrams knew pacing, drama and action ... Maxis is going to blow the brains out of the back of your skull.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>commercialeaelectronic-artsjj-abramsmaxissims-3star-trekthe-sims-3trailertv-commercialtv-spotvideoWed, 20 May 2009 15:40:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2009/03/24/gdc09-star-trek-dac-details-and-no-we-dont-know-what-it-stan/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/03/24/gdc09-star-trek-dac-details-and-no-we-dont-know-what-it-stan/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/03/24/gdc09-star-trek-dac-details-and-no-we-dont-know-what-it-stan/#comments
We caught up with Benjamin Hoyt, senior producer at Paramount Digital Entertainment, David Baronoff, associate producer on the new Trek film and Bad Robot workerbee, and Joshua Glazer, CTO from developer Naked Sky Entertainment to talk about all things Star Trek DAC. We didn't get any juicy screenshots or video, nor did we find out what the heck "DAC" stands for (although Baronoff did say that a lot of the fan guesses are "in the right realm"), but we did come away with a lot of information about the upcoming title that's tied to Paramount's May release of the new Star Trek movie. Beam down beyond the break where you can read all about it.

OK, so maybe not a Zork game per se, but some sort of text adventure would be right up Infocom fan (and Lost creator) J.J. Abrams' alley. That revelation comes from a recent conversation the writer/producer/director had with MTV, which you can find after the break. Though he's at least half-kidding, he says he'd be interested in trying to create a really good parser and simulation of human interaction.